Camp and Stein’s Velocity Gradient Formalization

Abstract

Camp and Stein’s velocity gradient definition and its application to the study of fine sediment flocculation under flow shear are revised in the light of basic fluid mechanics concepts. Local motion and energy dissipation of a viscous fluid under laminar flow are used to prove that the Camp and Stein analysis was inaccurate for a general laminar movement. A generalization of Smoluchowski local aggregation equation and an alternative deduction for the parameter that Camp and Stein called velocity gradient are presented for a general laminar flow.